swallowing medication

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My step son was recently diagnosed with high functioning ASD. He's been seeing a psychologist and more recently a psychiatrist to prescribe. Despite telling her his inability to swallow pills or liquid she prescribed a liquid anxiety medication and said give it a try and we'll follow up at next apt. We already know this is going to be a nightmare, he cannot even take a fever reducer unless diluted enough in apple juice which is all he drinks outside of milk and water. Does anyone know of an alternative in patch or tasteless liquid form? We've been told he should be on meds for anxiety and a mood regulator.

I think most all the meds for anxiety only come in pills & liquid besides injection but those are usually done at hospitals for tests or surgery.

I had the same problem as a kid. I was put on Zoloft at age 6 and had to take it in liquid form until I was about 8 and could swallow pills. The liquid I had was mixed with orange juice, and I would drink it in the morning every day. It might be mixable with apple juice too, I'm not sure. My mom had me practice swallowing pills with Reese's Pieces in the meantime so I would eventually swallow pills on my own. Good Luck!

Remeron is available in an orally disintegrating tablet which tastes great. Clonazepam natually tastes like candy and you can melt it under your tongue instead of swallowing it which makes it kick in quicker.

I used to have problems swallowing pills too but I taught myself to (up to a point). Start with small pills and use yogurt instead of water. Line up capsules so that they arent gonna go down sideways. Hold the pill in your mouth with your tongue and start sucking then release the pill with your tongue and swallow. This sends the pill flying down your throat making it less likely to get stuck and gag.

Try to avoid meds that aren't coated, if they start to dissolve immediately in your mouth then they can get stuck a lot easier in your throat. Any gag relfex will set your stepson back in overcoming his fear of swallowing pills.

Try asking the doctor to prescribe smaller dosage size pills in higher quantities like 4 x 25mg Seroquel instead of 1 x 100mg. Seroquel 25mg pills are among as small as pills can get, they are really tiny and can work as a mood stabilzer.

You can use a pill cutter to break pills into smaller pieces as long as the medication is not long acting nor specifically indicates not to crush or chew the pill.

Escitalopram is an antidepressant that comes in very small pills which should be really easy to swallow.

I used to be able to not take meds properly, I would have to crush them up and put on vegemite sandwich, but now I know how to swallow them, sometimes they do get a bit stuck but still, I can now. Its just a matter of practicing opening your throat when swallowing, im glad I can now take them easier, it was hell getting them crushed, tasted soo bad.

If you want to try this approach you could ask the psych to prescribe Buspar. It's NOT an antidepressant & is specially for anxiety & not a benzodiazepine either. But like most psych meds it has to be taken regularly. It helped my anxiety alot without side-effects. It can be taken with lots of other psych meds too including antidepressants & benzos Anyways... it comes in 7.5milligrams (I take 15mg 2wice a day) & they can be broken in half. It can also be crushed like fakkau mentioned.

I used to be horrible at guzzling down even vitamin capsules, I'd almost vomit every time, ever since I sought prescriptions to help facilitate the easing of my mental woes I've become a pro at consuming tablets!

some medications are in powder form and you can easily disguise them in porridge-consistency products. powdery pills in liquidy products work too but with more transparency.
practicing is helpful. i have seen my NT younger sisters go through the process of practicing swallowing pills and it was never easy. they are both very good at it now but i still struggle, however, with practice i have become much better at it and also much better at knowing when i reflexed wrong and that's why it feels weird in my throat, not that i swallowed it into my lung or anything unlikely like that.
i do better with oblong shaped pills than circular pills, although that could just be a personal preference. and never more than one at a time.
i always take a sip of the liquid first and then stick the pill in there before swallowing. i think that helps because my body is already prepared to swallow the liquid like it normally would and there is less time for me to think about it. sometimes if i'm already thinking about it too hard there will be a mental block and i'll be unable to swallow it or it will get stuck on the way down, but in that case i've learned over time to divert to the feeling of the choking reflex during a pill swallowing, a feeling that i've eventually come to recognize (at least intellectually), and know it's really okay.
i also have figured out that it helps if someone rubs my back while i'm swallowing pills. if i don't have someone to rub my back i'll rub my legs together or whatever body parts i have available.
this is all just my personal experience with swallowing medication and i have never had so much trouble with swallowing liquid medications as swallowing pill form. i think it's possible that learning personal tricks through practicing has merit, although i can definitely understand the initial inability in the first place.